The Nonary Game: Project Arius
by YellowTheWriter
Summary: It looks like someone is at it again, reviving the Nonary Game yet again. Now, nine people find themselves in an abandoned town, and given a simple task. The task? Find the door emblazoned with a 9 and leave the forgotten town behind. Who will survive this game of life and death as the nine unwilling players try to find answers. For one, what's the obsession with 9? (SYOC Closed)
1. Welcome to Your Dilemma!

First there was darkness. Then it gave way to light. My eyes fluttered open, then momentarily snapped back shut because of how bright it was. A thought crossed my mind. _'It must be morning now. I better get ready for the day.'_

I pushed the blanket that covered me down towards the dark wooden bed frame. It was a light blue and it met the end of my bed frame, the blanket that once covered me now partially covering the dark wood of my bed frame. Looking up, it was my normal white ceiling coupled with pastel blue walls and cream colored carpet. Sunlight continued streaming through the two windows to my right as I pushed myself out of bed, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, followed by me opening the white door that led to the hallway. Nobody stirred except for me as light continued to pour out the large window overlooking the staircase and shining through the clear glass of the suspended light in the center of the entrance to where I lived. _'I guess Mommy and Daddy haven't woken up yet.'_ I figured, entering the bathroom door next to my room.

Upon opening the door, sunlight greeted me once again through the closed bathroom window; its soft lace curtain tied to the side. Closing the door behind me, I pressed the lock and opened the closet behind that door and pulled out a towel, tossing it onto the toilet. Afterwards, I turned the water on, accidentally pulling it past what I normally did, grabbing my toothbrush and going through with my morning ritual during summer vacation: wake up, brush my teeth, take a shower, and eat breakfast.

After a few moments of the toothbrush swishing through my mouth and the water gradually warming up, I finally finished and spit into the sink for the final time, I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my shirt. _'Two of four done!'_ I mentally cheered myself on. I was so happy that I didn't even realize the shower was too hot, touching the scalding stream of water that flowed from the spout and jerked my hand back. It was way too hot. Because of that one brief action, my hand scraped against the rough edge of the spout, leaving a slight cut on my right hand. I immediately noticed it, rushing out of the bathroom and closing the door behind me, and down the stairs I went.

When I reached the foot of the stairs, I heard no sounds come from the kitchen. _'Nobody must be awake yet.'_ That was good. It made it easier to hide that cut. I quietly ran to the kitchen, hopping on a stool in the corner of the counters and opened the squeaky upper cabinet door, pulling a small box full of band-aids out and removing one. I quickly ripped it out of its package, snatching the paper from the counter and tossing them in the garbage bin that hid inside a lower cabinet, followed by me shutting the the cabinets and making a dash back upstairs, taking the stairs two at a time. I swung open the bathroom door, but caught it so I wouldn't wake my sister who slept across the hall from me. Instead of sunlight, I was greeted by a gust of warmth and steam that slowly entered the hallway and dissipated, but my eyes weren't on the bathtub; they were on the words written on the mirror in fog letters, their origin confusing me.

'Welcome to the Nonary Game!' Was the first line. In moments my mind was flooded with thoughts of dread, worry, and confusion. My mind was already an uproar of different thoughts that flew through my head, but one thought rung clear in the ocean of emotions that pounded through my head.

 _'What's the Nonary Game?'_

That was when I realized it. There was a slight weight on my left wrist. My eyes instantly jumped down to whatever foreign object was there. It was a white, yellow, blue, and pink bracelet encircling my left wrist displaying a dark blue number. It was the number [8].

* * *

 **Hello everyone! Welcome to The Nonary Game: Project Arius. This is my own version of the Nonary Game! I will only be accepting eight other characters because the Nonary Game requires a total of nine participants, with the character in the introduction being one of them. However, I have a few rules for submitting a characters along with some information I want to communicate to you.**

 **1\. No perfect characters whatsoever. This takes the enjoyment out of being sadistic and watching nine people duke it out against each other if all of them or even one of them are perfect in any shape or form.**

 **2\. The participants must be humans. This is self-explanatory because robots don't make sense in this situation.**

 **3\. Only one submission per person until I say otherwise. You may submit multiple characters, but, as long as this rule stands, I will only accept one submission from each person who submits one. I would rather have as many different people as possible than have all of the submissions be from one or two people. Only if I believe it's impossible to receive the amount of characters required for the story, I will maintain this rule.**

 **4\. What I do with your character is my choice. This is my story and I don't want anybody attempting to make their characters survive just because. 999 is a game where death is always present and my story is no different.**

 **5\. Likewise to the games there will be multiple endings. It's up in the air whether your character dies or not or if their fate is unknown. It's really up to me. Keep in mind that just because someone dies in one ending, that doesn't mean they'll die in every ending.**

 **6\. Only one character can be Zero. Of course, there can be multiple characters behind the Nonary Game and assisting Zero, but only one participant can be Zero: the mastermind behind this game.**

 **7\. I can deny your character if the need arises or I feel I must do so. If I feel that your submission cannot be a participant, I will provide you constructive criticism on how to improve them. The same goes for numbers if that spot is already taken. I can also remove your character even if it seems I've accepted them. The same goes for removing characters already accepted when the story starts. If you're a jerk to people or leave reviews that bully others, I will not hesitate to give your character the same fate as a _certain_** **participant in the first game. However, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and welcome as is pointing out if I portrayed your character incorrectly. After all, nobody can improve if they aren't open to constructive criticism. But, do not be afraid to post simple reviews not offering any sort of constructive criticism. I believe everyone communicates however they see fit! Thank you to Mortician No.66 for pointing out the flaws of this rule. Your review is greatly appreciated!**

 **8\. I will not accept any submissions that come to me through a review to this story even if they're resubmitted through a PM afterwards. This compromises your character altogether.**

 **9\. Please fill in all required fields of the form to have your character selected. If you don't fulfill this, I will notify you of this. Don't forget to say Funyarinpa as the header of your submission PM to let me know! Or not, I guess. Add whatever you want after that!**

 **If you have any questions, simply ask me and I will try to give you an answer as soon as possible! Anyways, let's move on to the submission form!**

* * *

Name: (Whatever your character's real name is. Whether this is revealed during the story is up to you.)

Bracelet Number: (Probably one of the most important aspects of your character. We should all know this. We should all also know they're numbered one through nine, and that eight is taken.)

Alias: (You can choose whether or not your character wants to keep their identity a secret from the others like in the first game, but, if they choose not to reveal their real name, they must at least have something else they go by. Heck, they can be from anywhere or have the most random name you can think of.)

Age: (How old your character is. They can be a little kid like the person in the introduction, or they can be old enough to be your great-grandma or something. Anything works as long as they're physically fit enough to get around on their own.)

Birthday: (C'mon, this is important. At least, it might be. Who knows? :D)

Gender: (Anything really works as long as I have a relatively balanced cast.)

Sexuality: (We might as well ship some people in here now that we're stuck.)

Occupation: (Could be a student, unemployed, or multiple things. Anything remotely legal can work.)

Personality: (Alright, I won't ask too much of you. I mostly want to know how they act overall, what might lead them to betray the others, what might lead them to kill the others, how they would act in the Nonary Game situation, and what kind of people would they trust?)

Backstory: (Pretty basic, too. I want at least something around five to ten sentences detailing what they've done with their life. Maybe how and why they ended up in the Nonary Game?)

Appearence: (Please tell me the overall appearance of your character. This includes physical features, skin color (ethnicity), height, and clothing. Please be as decent as Lotus. We can all strive for that, right?)

Manner of Speaking: (Give me a few quotes or at least tell me how they would talk with the others. You should also include languages because we might have fun with signs if there's ever a language barrier! Also, do they curse a lot? Does it depend on the situation, or do they just don't do it?)

Strengths: (At least two, and at most five.)

Weaknesses: (At least three, and at most five.)

Would Your Character Be Zero?: (Please give me a yes or no answer. If you do want your character to be Zero, please explain what their motivations are or at least why they would be a good fit as they mastermind of this Nonary Game.)

Other: (Put anything you feel that I should know here.)

* * *

 **The Participants**

1\. Alpha (Colton989)

2\. Valentine (JamesBa63264050)

3\. Chimera (SanityRequiem)

4\. Moriarty (tobi-is-an-artist-too)

5\. Pen (Sapptor)

6\. Trickster (Alex The God Killer)

7\. Ruby (Northern Knight)

8\. Infinity (YellowTheWriter)

9\. Caesar (The1AndOnlyYoursTruly)


	2. 8

**I can't believe I already reveived a full roster within four days! Thank you all for your submissions! Keep in mind that all rules mentioned in the previous chapter still apply. Zero has been chosen, and I hope you enjoy this wild ride we're throwing our characters at!**

* * *

I just stood there for who knows how long just staring at the mirror, unable to make it past the first sentence.

'Welcome to the Nonary Game!'

It seemed so nonchalant and easy to brush off as a simple joke or some sort of scavenger hunt, but I couldn't do that. The phrase confounded me for no apparent reason besides a lingering fear and unease that remained in my body, keeping me in place.

"I want to leave." I whimpered. _'_ _No. My birthday is coming up soon! I can't lose all hope_ yet! _After all, I wanted to have it at that bowling alley! Okay, I gotta get out of my house! That sounds weird, but I'm gonna work with it.'_

"I know this house. At least, I think so..." I wracked my brain for all the rooms in the house. There weren't many, but this whole situation was so stressful!

"Um, let's see. Upstairs bathroom, my room, Maya's room, Rei's room, Mommy and Daddy's room, the other upstairs bathroom, everyone's closets, that side room I honestly haven't cared about much, the other side room without a door but has a piano, the downstairs bathroom, the _really_ fancy dining room we never use, the kitchen, the other dining room, the laundry room, the living room, the garage, the downstairs closet, and the basement that I'm never going in. There. That about sums it up!" I had listed off all of the rooms in my house.

Almost immediately afterwards I started running around, opening all of the doors I found, which weren't many. In fact, I could only get into my room, Maya's room, the upstairs bathroom, the side room without a door, the downstairs bathroom, the _really_ fancy dining room, the kitchen, the not so fancy dining room, and the downstairs closet. They were the only doors that opened, but a lot of the assessable rooms didn't have doors at all. Rei's room didn't have a doorknob at all, so it was a lost cause to continue throwing myself at his door. There was the living room, but there was a large temporary wall that wouldn't move at all with a door on it. No matter how much I pulled on the doorknob it wouldn't budge at all.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I tugged on the door, my feet were on the door as I tugged on the door in a comedic fashion. At least, I think so until it broke off. I couldn't really see myself at all. But, hey, the handle broke clean off! Plus one for me!

However, I completely forgot about the front door, though. So, I dashed over to it and pulled on it exactly like the last one, but I didn't succeed.

Me: 1, Nonary Game: 0, Doors: 1.

Oh well. After a second examination of the front door, I noticed an overly large than it needed to be lock with a large keyhole with the number [8] beneath it. My first and foremost goal would be to unlock it, so that meant I would have to find the newly named [8] key that I have hereby named [Valo]! Why? I have my reasons!

Anyways, off to find [Valo]!

* * *

Seek a way out!

* * *

"Let's see, I should probably start searching more instead of running around like a maniac pulling on door handles. Or completely pull the handle off." I said to myself, examining the the doorknob handle that I have recently received through destructive methods. Strangely enough, it was the kind of doorknob all the others doors in my house used.

 _'Curiouser and curiouser. Oh wait! This must be one of the extra ones we keep in the garage... gasp! Rei's needs one since his just went missing! I'm a genius.'_ Done with my internal thoughts, I raced up the stairs to Rei's room, jamming the doorknob into the opening in the door. It easily slid in. Maybe _too_ easily since it slid right back out and fell to the floor, leaving a nasty dent on the hardwood. _'I'll just blame that on Rei!'_

Snatching up the doorknob, I ran back downstairs, only to remember the garage was locked. "Hmm... where do I find a screwdriver?" I mused, blanking on this situation. There were no other screwdrivers in the house besides the ones in a toolbox in the garage which was, of course, locked. Suddenly an idea dawned on me. "There must be one in here somewhere!" I proclaimed, deciding to search the kitchen cabinets first. They all opened with ease and were stocked with whatever you'd expect in my family's kitchen. The drawers were the same. Well, except for the random book I had found in there.

The book was something completely new to me. It was definitely most likely older than me, and my house, and everything within a 20 mile radius from my house, give or take. It had a brown leather cover with yellowing pages and was probably three inches thick. There was an old bronze clasp on each of the three sides that held it shut along with two bike locks perpendicular from each other with one having three slots that three numbers would add to each other to a fourth number, and a simpler four digit number. One bronze lock had a keyhole, the next one parallel to the spine had a seven letter lock, and the final one on the bottom had a silver padlock with a sky blue musical note on it.

After examining it, I was deeply confused about what I was supposed to do with it. Shaking it did nothing as did throwing it at a wall. And I should know since I threw it a few times. Instead of pursuing the issue of the book I decided to try and play some piano to soothe my nerves. I tossed the book onto the not so fancy table and walked over to the piano room. Sitting myself down on the piano, I started to play 'Ode to Joy', a favorite of mine. However, the moment I pressed the E key, my hopes for playing were dashed. No sound was produced upon hitting the E key. I furiously pounded on the key for five straight minutes, producing no sound whatsoever. That is, until I kicked the piano which I was greeted with a high pitched ping of a silver key and the E key falling off. Now I'm not one to be picky, so I snatched them up.

"Yes! Victory is mine once again!" I shouted victoriously, holding up the two items which I quickly walked away with.

Me: 2, Nonary Game: 0, Doors: 1.

I had made it back to the leather book I had, inspecting it again and decided to try the silver key I had found on the padlock, being greeted with a satisfying click. I had tried to open the book once again, but it scarcely budged any more than earlier. Following that disappointment, I examined the white piano key which was one of the keys that would be to the right of two black keys normally, however, it was currently in my possession. There was nothing unusual about it besides the fact that it was disconnected from its piano.

Now rather than doing what a normal person would do and put the key back on the piano, I decided to look around the house for something it may fit in. During that search, I broke 1 vase, left 3 scratches on the hardwood floor, and cracked the glass on 1 picture frame. Breaking the vase actually helped me out because I never liked it in the first place and because there were 2 screws I could use to put Rei's doorknob back on, and the picture frame that I had broke wasn't in the house the last time I had checked it which was last night. It had this pretty brass antique key with a bow shaped like a queen from chess. There was a black and white checkerboard pattern on the back, and I could only press 8 of them at a time before it would reset. No matter how many times I threw it, it wouldn't break!

Deciding not to waste my sanity on trying to solve it, I looked around my room and Maya's room. Nothing seemed off except I had found this weird note in my backpack, and there were cartoonish pictures of a sun, a rain cloud, a thunder cloud, and a cloud on Maya's walls. There wasn't anything strange in either of our closets except that Maya's closet reminded me that I should not keep stuffing random objects in mine so I can claim I cleaned my room. Changing my clothes from my pajamas wasn't really important to me, so here I was, a 9 year running around her house in a blue onesie with eight butterflies, one for each color of the rainbow plus white, dark blue slippers, and a pink robe. Yes, I sleep in all of this stuff, and, yes, it's relevant because I say it is.

Moving along now, there was a dashed line for seven letters on one of Maya's walls. I decided to go back downstairs to my unbreakable book and actually read that note I found. Turns out it was just a hall pass from school. Crumpling it up and tossing it into the trash can, I moved on to solving one of the locks. I tried inputting RAINSUN and SUNRAIN, but neither worked. Finally, I tried WEATHER, and it actually worked! Two locks down and throwing it at the wall again yielded no results.

I also searched the downstairs closet and bathroom. It wasn't too interesting.

"Let's see, anything useful here?" I asked aloud, flipping the light switch in the downstairs bathroom. There was this really weird picture thing on the wall with a bunch of strange blobs on it. Mommy and Daddy would never had gotten something so hideous, so I completely ignored it. The only really useful in there was that the sink was still working along with the toilet, and a note that was taped on the mirror. I opened it only to find something quite random.

It read: '4 + ? + 5 = 8'

I didn't know what it meant since 4 and 5 added up to 9, but I decided against questioning it further and to pretend the question mark was an 8 to maintain my sanity.

Entering the closet, all I found was disappointment and a chessboard. Inside, all I found were 8 queens and a slip of paper reading: 'Keep all queens safe!'

 _'This is probably related to that weird picture frame.'_ I thought, tucking the chessboard under my right arm. Walking back to the leather book with too many locks, I decided to input 4858 into the really weird bike lock and the exact same thing into the other bike lock, both of them sliding off and making me happy. The stupid book still wouldn't open, so I probably have to get that queen key.

Snatching the picture frame from where I had set it down near the piano, I stomped on it again only for it not to work. _'Usually things are_ so _much easier to break than this.'_

I placed the chessboard and picture frame on the table, the back side of it facing me. I had already pulled out the 4 black queens and the 4 white queens from the chessboard and tried to figure out the queens puzzle. It took me longer than it should have taken, but I was finally able to find a way to keep all 8 queens safe. I pressed the 8 squares that the queens resided on the chessboard, and was greeted by the panel popping out. I grabbed the queen key, taking care to avoid the broken glass snatched up the leather book, the silver padlock falling to the floor leaving yet another dent. Ignoring it, I put the antique key into the final keyhole and was greeted by the final click. At least, I hoped so.

I was so excited to finally open the book, but my anticipation was for nothing. Instead of [Valo] there was a screwdriver so I had to go into Rei's room after all.

"Darn it!" I screamed. Whoever set this game up preyed on my impatience as a child and made me do everything for a screwdriver. I shook the screwdriver out of the book and stormed up the stairs to Rei's room. I forcefully jammed his doorknob into the hole and put one screw in, making short work of it and followed the same routine with the second screw. I immediately shoved the screwdriver into my pocket and threw open the door, finding Rei's somewhat clean room. There were some toys and clothing tossed here and there, but I was able to avoid them by going between the scattered items. In the corner of the room there was a red toy piano with a large [8] drawn on the top. I promptly dragged it out of Rei's room and over to mine, ignoring the sounds of protest it and the floor made. Once I was inside my room, I examined it further.

It looked quite new, and there were 24 keys. 10 black and 14 white with a single E key missing. I figured I might as well use the single unused item that seemed important, so I pulled the E key out of my pocket and placed it in the open space. The grand piano key looked silly on the toy piano, but it stayed in place, and the piano started playing itself, the top of it flinging open to reveal a key with the number [8] making up the bow.

"[Valo]!" I happily shouted, snatching up the key as the piano finished its song. It was simple, but sounded nice. Now ignoring that, I pushed the toy piano under my desk and placed the screwdriver from my pocket next to it. After that, I closed Rei's door and went down the stairs down two at a time, stopping in front of the front door.

[Valo] rested in my right hand as I lifted the key I had been searching for into the keyhole and twisted it open, pocketing my key afterwards, and turned the doorknob, finally being able to leave my house as I took in a breath of fresh air. I walked outside, feeling the warmth of the sun on my body as I ignored the fact that I should probably be dressed normally rather than pajamas, and that the front door had shut. Neither of those mattered, though. I was finally free from the confines of my house as I took the feeling of freedom in, sighing a breath of relief.

* * *

 **Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy the first official chapter of The Nonary Game: Project Arius! I've been having a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! A few of you should probably notice a few of the little things I snuck in! I wonder if anyone will notice the 999 reference I made? I'm sorry this chapter took quite a while to write, but I really want to include puzzle segments like the other games have done, and I was planning the story out during some of that time!** **Anyways, have a great day, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	3. 3

_'Ugh. What happened last night?'_ I thought as I slid out of bed. I brushed at my short brown hair that was bright and wavy, reaching down to her shoulders. Currently, my hair blocked most, if not all, of my vision. A variety of pink and white hair clips littered the surface of the nearby table along with my other small personal items, which were either mixed in with the hair clips or laid besides the table. The bed had felt slightly uncomfortable. _'I must've fallen asleep in my clothes again.'_ My clothes were wrinkled after spending a night in bed. First brushing the surface of my bright pink tank top and short sleeved white jacket, I felt a small bulge in one of my coat pockets, but I ignored it. _'Must be my phone.'_ Tossing that thought aside, I did the same to my bright blue flared jeans, reaching the small pink flower designs on the bottom after a few moments, then slid my white sandals with similar pink flowers onto my feet, which were at the foot of the bed. I still looked like a hobo, but even less so, which I saw as an improvement.

Brushing my bangs out of her eyes, a much darker brown in comparison to my hair, I finally realized I was _very_ out of place. For starters, I didn't even recognize the building I was in, but it was definitely an ER room. It was definitely strange to see it blatantly written on a piece of paper that was left on the door. _'As if people need to know where they are when they're in emergency care.'_ I hated this. Someone must be pulling some sick joke and they'd scream at each other for a bit with me threatening to contact one of their professors, and them convincing me it was a harmless joke. Usually situations like this never ended well whenever I was involved. However, I did take notice of the room's strange layout. There was a sink and some counter space in one corner with some cabinets above and beneath it with a small light between the rows of cabinets that partially illuminated the room, but not fully, leaving some darkness. I had woken up in the bed diagonally away in the corner from the sink. It didn't look or feel very comfortable, and it had drab blue sheets with a tiny metal table beside it. I carefully took each of the hair clips that rested atop the table, securing my bangs with them so I could actually function like a normal human being.

It seemed like an eternity, but I did finish getting all of those hair clips on, and I walked over to the sink afterwards, examining my reflection in its surface. For some reason, I had no mascara and eye shadow on, so I pulled out the two necessary pieces of makeup and put a modest amount of mascara and pink eyeliner on my face. Once I was satisfied, they were quickly tossed back into the backpack as quickly as they came into existence, and I slung the straps over my shoulders, checking the various buttons I had attached to them. The buttons were needlessly cute, and I realized the futility in trying to ascertain whether or not they were all there; there were simply too many to keep track of, and it would be for the best of one or any went missing. That was when I saw _it_. The item in question was a white, yellow, blue, and pink bracelet that resembled a watch, prominently displaying the number [3].

"What the...?" I pulled on the cold bracelet that held tightly onto my wrist. Flipping over my wrist, I saw that it was firmly clamped around my arm, barely moving when I tried to push it off of me. I tried smashing the face of the bracelet, eventually giving up after it not leaving a single scratch, and proceeded to smash it against the nearby counter. After what was probably a few minutes, I examined the bracelet again, finding it perfectly fine. "How?!" I screamed, now trying to stomp on it.

I regained my composure a few minutes afterwards, giving up on removing the bracelet. I knew something was definitely wrong about this whole predicament and bracelet, but wasn't crazy enough to sever my own hand, plus there wasn't anything sharp enough in the room. Trust me, I searched what I could. My search was only of three of the six cabinets near the sink, which were the only ones that were unlocked, the bed I awoke in, my backpack, and the white plastic document holder mounted on the door. There was a window, but it was firmly blocked off with something that resembled a ventilation vent lid, and the door was locked and wouldn't break easily, meaning I would have to find the key. It was a bit strange that the door locked from the inside, though; a taboo design feature for hospital rooms.

* * *

Seek a way out!

* * *

I didn't find a great deal of things, but I found a manila folder in the document holder, a stethoscope, two small pill bottles, and a pen. There were a few documents in the folder, all pertaining about me, but all without my name and some details were omitted, such as career and various other things you would expect to find in a typical profile of a person. There were even two pictures of me clipped on with a paper clip, one of the front of my face, the second being of the side of my face.

* * *

Age: 24

Gender: Female

Birthdate: April 2

Height: 5 Feet 6 Inches

Weight:

Chest Size:

Other Notes: Digital Roots

* * *

 _'Some of this stuff is a little... weird to have on hand.'_ I found it strange why my chest size of all things was important enough to have its own little space along with the mention of digital roots, but I am one to judge, so I decided to take it with me for privacy's sake, tossing it into my backpack. All of the belongings I had left in my backpack were still there, with the addition of the manila folder. The stethoscope was what you would expect to see in a hospital, and it wasn't all that interesting. The pill bottles were a bright orange with white caps, and were those little ones you had to push down on and twist to open. Neither had a prescription sticker on them. One held a small cylinder that would normally be found in a music box, while the other held a small key. Upon finding the key, I left its pill bottle on the counter and walked over to the door, frustrated that the key wasn't for this door, for it was much too small. Instead, I tried the locked cabinet doors, successfully unlocking the two locked cabinets above the sink, leaving the contents of the last one on the bottom row a mystery.

I was a bit worried. For all I knew, something bad could have happened, which is why I was determined as ever to get out of here. The first cabinet held a large white bottle with a blue lid. There was a four number lock on the plastic lid with a keyhole on the top. It was currently locked, but I recognized it as one of those containers that could lock and hold multiple small pill bottles. Setting it on the counter, I pulled out a strange box. It had the appearance of a large toolbox, and was somewhat heavy, giving me a tad bit of trouble getting it down. There were a number of deep, small holes in the toolbox, most likely leaving little storage space. The toolbox was a deep red with a black handle on the top and beveled edges. I counted 4 holes in all, finding a small graphic above each hole. From left to right, the graphics were the symbol of Aries, the symbol of Scorpio, the symbol of Leo, and the symbol of Gemini. I recognized them effortlessly from years of my older brother constantly pestering me about mythology. The holes has reminded me of the pill bottles, so I stuck the two I already had inside, my eyes staring at the unmoving and unfeeling white caps... you know what, spare my sanity and skip this scene! That's better. Anyways, I decided to consult the large white bottle again.

* * *

 _'Yes, Mr. Pill Bottle, I've been frequently getting upset by this crap I'm in!'_

 _'Well, why don't you solve me and get on with this game.'_

 _'Of course! Let's solve your freaking puzzle before I go even more insane!'_

* * *

Pill Bottle Theatre brought to you by not Akita Yamazaki.

* * *

"Wait, what?"

* * *

"Yeah, I don't know either... wait a minute. Get out of here it's not your turn yet!"

* * *

After Akita Aki Akiza Sae Chiyo whatsherface something flipped out after Pill Bottle Theatre.

* * *

"Let's see, that profile mentioned digital roots and had a few numbers down. Maybe it was talking about this?" I held Mr. Pill Bottle in one hand and the manila folder in the other, looking it over again. _'_ _Oh right, one sign of going crazy is talking to inanimate objects. So, I should input 6256? Wrong?! Then 6422! Again?! Fine, then, I'll use 6666 you satanist!'_ Big surprise, the bottle is still shut even though I continue to yell profanities at it and I jammed the key I had in it, which fit. Despite my efforts, it remained locked. "You know what? I don't care Mr. Pill Bottle." I had walked away and set it on the ground before I charged at it again, kicking it into the wall. I scurried over to it, trying to pry it open, but it remained shut.

I sat down on the ground, feeling defeated by by Mr. Pill Bottle. I pulled the folder out again and looked over the details. I knew for certain that the first number was 6 unless this puzzle has some convoluted answer, which I wouldn't find unreasonable. Then I noticed that there were only 4 filled in parts of my personal information; equal to how many numbers were required for the pill bottle lock, meaning that I needed to use each section for a number. That meant that the first number was obviously 6, followed by a more confusing 3 because girls usually had two X chromosomes, making them girls, which gave me said 3. Next was another 6 if I counted April as a 6, and finally another 6 by converting my height to be entirely inches. Mr. Pill Bottle silently opened, revealing 9 more orange pill bottles: Pill Edition rather than Random Object Edition.

"Who knew my personal information was so satanic?" I asked the empty room. "I need help."

Placing the toolbox on the countertop, I set the nine pill bottles in a row next to it, inspecting the contents of each.

Pill bottle number 1 held 1 orange pill; pill bottle number 2 held 7 white pills; pill bottle number 3 held 13 pink pills; pill bottle number 4 held 5 blue pills; pill bottle number 5 held 9 red pills; pill bottle number 6 held 3 blue pills; pill bottle number 7 held 8 yellow pills; pill bottle number 8 held 2 green pills; and pill bottle number 9 held 2 gray pills.

I found it strange that there was a variety of colors chosen, each making it easy to differentiate the pills from one another. The large blue numbers on each cap also helped, which were conveniently provided in the previous paragraph.

Already knowing the answer, I stuck the first bottle beneath the Aries symbol, the seventh beneath the Scorpio symbol, the fourth beneath the Leo symbol, and the sixth beneath the Gemini symbol. The toolbox satisfyingly made a click as it unlocked as I opened it to reveal a simple Phillips head screwdriver. It didn't appear to be anything special. It was just there. Snatching up my prize, I looked around the room for anything I hadn't successfully interacted with yet, setting my sights on the final cabinet. I opened the bottom middle cabinet, happily finding my prize: the hinges of the locked cabinet. I unscrewed them with ease as I removed the screws and cabinet door from their previous positions, revealing a large black safe. The numbers 1 to 100 stretched round the base of the knob. I now knew what I had to do next, preparing the stethoscope for use. I set its diaphragm on the cold metal near the knob as I slowly turned it to the right until I heard a faint click when it reached 12, then I made a full rotation to the left and continued until I heard another faint click at 2. I figured there were no more numbers left when I reached 24, but the combination wasn't complete yet. Continuing on, I made my way to 38, finishing at 10. I opened up the safe, being greeted with a strange wooden box.

It was fashioned out of light oak, and was sealed shut, refusing to even be pried open. I was afraid that I would break whatever was inside, so I chose the sensible way of opening it. Upon closer examination, it was quite plain, looking like a simple wooden block, but the gap and the hinges said otherwise. Unfortunately for me, the screws required a flathead, making my Phillips head useless. There was a small slot, similar to a battery holder, but it was far too big for a normal one. That's when it hit me. _'I'm finally using this thing. Is this what they call bookend?'_ I didn't care anymore. I just wanted out of this puzzle and nothing was going to stop me now! The cylinder began to spin, somehow producing a song. It was short and simple, so I guess I somewhat enjoyed it? The box sprung open and almost out of my grasp, revealing a key with a [3] as its bow. I quickly pulled it out of the box, not examining it further since I was tired of this whole situation. I placed a few of the items I found inside my backpack, especially since they could prove useful later.

I tentatively approached the door, uncertain about my feelings. On one hand I desperately wanted out of this room, while on the other I was worried about what I would find behind it. Instead of dwelling on the situation and consulting some random object again, I stuck the key in the lock, turning it and unlocking the door. Finished with my worries, I swung the door open, revealing a plain looking hallway with drab gray walls and off white floors. I partially walked out, my arm resting against the doorframe as if I was slightly hugging it. The door was still slightly open, but I pulled away, watching the door slowly close, leaving me alone in the quiet halls of what I hoped was a hospital as faint tapping came from the hallway to my left.

* * *

 **Hello everyone! Here's me hoping that you enjoyed the chapter that took too long to write! This girl is fun to write, and I thank SanityRequiem for sending her! Also, so many references; I've practically buried this chapter in them. Moving onto something that everyone actually cares about...**

 **To tobi-is-an-artist-too, that's Infinity for you! She's great at breaking stuff and uses violence to solve her problems with inanimate objects. :) Also, thank you a lot! I wanted something to set myself apart from any SYOCs for Zero Escape, so I decided to add puzzle sequences unlike the app, which is just the visual novel. Also, for anyone who didn't notice the reference, it was the painting in the bathroom. Infinity disrespected the Funyarinpa!**

 **To LeonPianta, ah, the wonders of children in writing. Hope you enjoyed this crazy lady just as much as I did!**

 **To SanityRequiem, not as bad as you, though. Never trust children with Requiem. Not like Infinity is much safer with me. :D #InfinityProtectionSquad. Infinity's got style when she solves her puzzles. B) I honestly don't know what I'm doing anymore with these emoticons. Well, lo and behold, Chimera is here, do not fear! Well, maybe be afraid of her. Your personal opinion.**

 **To Colton989, thank you! Also, he'll appear. Soon. That is, unless I suddenly die, such as from spontaneous combustion. Probably would be the equivalent of how long it's taken me to update this story.**

 **Anyways, I hope you have a nice day!**


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